What Does a Bookkeeper Do?

In this section, we take a look at the annual salaries of other professions. Take accounting assistant for example. On average, the accounting assistants annual salary is $768 lower than what bookkeepers make on average every year.

Even though bookkeepers and accounting assistants have vast differences in their careers, a few of the skills required to do both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require customer service, reconciliations, and data entry in the day-to-day roles.

As far as similarities go, this is where it ends because a bookkeeper responsibility requires skills such as "payroll tax returns," "journal entries," "credit card accounts," and "quickbooks pro." Whereas a accounting assistant is skilled in "credit card payments," "quickbooks," "account reconciliations," and "tax returns." So if you're looking for what truly separates the two careers, you've found it.

Accounting assistants really shine in the finance industry with an average salary of $41,823. Whereas bookkeepers tend to make the most money in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $42,063.

The education levels that accounting assistants earn is a bit different than that of bookkeepers. In particular, accounting assistants are 1.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a bookkeeper. Additionally, they're 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Now we're going to look at the account payables analyst profession. On average, account payables analysts earn a $14,019 higher salary than bookkeepers a year.

While the salary may be different for these job positions, there is one similarity and that's a few of the skills needed to perform certain duties. We used info from lots of resumes to find that both bookkeepers and account payables analysts are known to have skills such as "customer service," "reconciliations," and "data entry. "

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, several resumes showed us that bookkeeper responsibilities requires skills like "payroll tax returns," "financial transactions," "bank deposits," and "hr." But an account payables analyst might use skills, such as, "vendor statements," "erp," "strong analytical," and "pivot tables."

Account payables analysts may earn a higher salary than bookkeepers, but account payables analysts earn the most pay in the energy industry with an average salary of $66,023. On the other side of things, bookkeepers receive higher paychecks in the manufacturing industry where they earn an average of $42,063.

On the topic of education, account payables analysts earn similar levels of education than bookkeepers. In general, they're 2.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Let's now take a look at the accounting technician profession. On average, these workers make higher salaries than bookkeepers with a $1,000 difference per year.

While looking through the resumes of several bookkeepers and accounting technicians we discovered that both professions have similar skills. These similarities include skills such as "customer service," "reconciliations," and "data entry," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

There are many key differences between these two careers as shown by resumes from each profession. Some of those differences include the skills required to complete responsibilities within each role. As an example of this, a bookkeeper is likely to be skilled in "payroll tax returns," "hr," "credit card accounts," and "sales tax," while a typical accounting technician is skilled in "payroll," "travel vouchers," "financial statements," and "management system."

Interestingly enough, accounting technicians earn the most pay in the government industry, where they command an average salary of $39,070. As mentioned previously, bookkeepers highest annual salary comes from the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $42,063.

Accounting technicians are known to earn similar educational levels when compared to bookkeepers. Additionally, they're 1.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Junior accountants tend to earn a higher pay than bookkeepers by about $10,107 per year.

According to resumes from both bookkeepers and junior accountants, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "reconciliations," "data entry," and "financial transactions. "

Each job requires different skills like "payroll tax returns," "customer service," "journal entries," and "credit card accounts," which might show up on a bookkeeper resume. Whereas junior accountant might include skills like "account reconciliations," "quickbooks," "payroll taxes," and "accruals."

Now, let's take a closer look at the financials in each career. The construction industry tends to pay more for junior accountants with an average of $56,091. While the highest bookkeeper annual salary comes from the manufacturing industry.

Junior accountants reach similar levels of education when compared to bookkeepers. The difference is that they're 3.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree more, and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.